People

Pianist and composer Herbie Hancock-who ranks among the most influential jazz musicians of the last hundred years-is a bouncy and jovial free spirit. At age 70, he seems as excited about his new Apple iPad as he is about his latest album, The Imagine Project (which is also available as a video).

When he introduces himself in a hangar at TWC Aviation in Van Nuys, Calif., film and television director and producer McG is so friendly and engaging that you can't help wishing he were a neighbor who might come over for the occasional beer or Monday Night Football get-together.

"When I was telling people that I joined Piaggio," said John Bingham, "they would say, 'I didn't realize that you had gone to work in motor scooters.' I quickly understood that we needed to do something about the name of the company. So that is why we branded it 'Piaggio Aero.'"

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban claims he can type 50 words a minute on his BlackBerry. He uses e-mail for nearly all his business correspondence, saying it keeps him in constant contact with the people who need to reach him and is far more efficient than picking up the phone.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BIG AIRLINE tries running a business jet charter and management subsidiary? In the case of Delta AirElite, what might at first seem like a prescription for disaster turns out to be a near-perfect elixir of airline value blended with the exceptional service and efficiency of private jet travel.

Cliff Robertson told us that he began acting as a way to avoid work. "I learned in third grade that if you volunteer for that stupid class play where they extol the virtues of vegetables and somebody plays the carrot and somebody else plays the bad food, you won't have to stay after school and clean the erasers," he said. "It was a way to avoid stuff you didn't want to do.

A sign in Jack DeBoer's office reads, "Success is seldom permanent. Neither is failure." DeBoer has seen plenty of both in his long career but his spectacular wins have been sufficient to eclipse his losses. Business-minded since childhood, he began selling real estate while still in high school in Kalamazoo, Mich., and has been an entrepreneur ever since.